My wife has a garden. It started small, but then a spaghetti squash grew out of the compost, and gave us tasty, tasty vegetables, and what started as a small bit of the back yard suddenly changed to a significant portion of our vegetable bill becoming home-grown. Anyway, she went outside on Thursday, and next thing I know, she's knocking at the back door. In her arms, she's cradling a delicate little black kitten, and the thing's purring so loud I can almost hear it through the glass.

So I throw a handful of kibble into a bowl, and some water into another bowl, and take it out to the patio. Set them down, and the wife sets the kitten down... and that's when we noticed an issue. From her "waist" up, the kitten worked. Her back legs, though... they just kinda splayed across the concrete. We were absolutely sure it was a broken leg, and decided pretty quickly that the little fuzzbutt had been hit by a car.

At that point, we had two options. One was to do the "sensible" thing. A crippled kitten that couldn't move... she couldn't really make it in the wild. No one would question if we put her out of her misery. Option two was going to the vet. That would mean spending money for the cost of a vet call, almost guaranteed x-rays, and who knows what else. Any sensible person would have looked at the facts and chosen Option One.

Here's the thing, though- I'm a veteran of Iraq, and thanks to a sniper, I know a bit about a limb not fully working.

[i47.photobucket.com image 432x500]

Call me sentimental if you will, but I wasn't going to write off a perfectly good cat over a bad peg. We piled into the minivan- that's how typically suburban my life normally is now, I own a Honda minivan- and took the kitten to the local vet clinic. They offer a substantial discount for strays, which is nice. We dropped the kitten off in a comfortable towel, and told them to do ...

Next time, Gonz, tell your wife to quit harvesting kittehs too early. She picked this one while it was still green on one end. Put Xena on a window sill for a few days, and she'll ripen just like a tomato. Happy Homecoming to Xena!

A SweetBecca fetch. Sorta almost goes with gremlin1's $799 buttwarmer above. But it's a cartoon, & inclusion may be considered as a copywrong.Projection Technique to make keyboard appear atop cat fur as cat lounges on laptop.Or it may actually display once Add Comment is struck, reckon We'll See....

In a world full of political ads and online poo flinging contests, one cat takes a stand...from the makers of 'Who took my harbuls' is a story of vengence, copeous amounts of catnip, and a hairball so big that theatre critics are taking notice. Fluffy Fuzzbutt is...THE FURMINATOR.

Thanks, my friend and I took those at the Wild Animal Sanctuary. I particularly love the one of the tiger looking at himself in the water. Then he walked very carefully to the end of the pipe, turned around and took a dump right in the water.

tigerose:Brian Blessed's Bastard Boy I am glad to hear that the day went well. It must be tremendously hard for you to see your wife in a wheelchair. I know you have to keep your chin up for the kids/wife, but if you ever need to howl at the moon, I am sure there are several ears/eyes available here among the Caturday Family!

Now. The thing I gotta ask..Are the ferrets using their wheelchair bag?? :)

Using as in sleeping in it, no. Using it as a toy, yes. Muenster has decided it is hers and when they come out to play, she grabs it and runs off with it to some corner of the house and leave it. Then a few minutes later she'll take it to some other part of the house. They're all like that with toys. They all have toys that are theirs and if one of the other ferrets plays with it, then they fight. But for the most part, they all respect each other's toys and stick only to their own. Never seen pets not only that territorial about toys, but that all of them have their own and usually they don't mess with each other's. I tried to put it in the cage for them to sleep in, but Muenster threw a hissy fit with all the others who tried to sleep in it. Toys are not allowed in the cage because they all flip out if something other than the litter boxes, food and water, and bedding is in the cage, they all lose it. Just another strange thing that seems to be ferret only. Maybe that's why their all terrorists.

OHAI and good morning everbody! sorry been absent-ish. on vacation this last week in oceanside ca (just north o' san diego) We been mission visiting and cat napping and farmer marketing.BUT, the biggest treat was the Wild Animal Park yesterday.I will have Real Cheetah pics next week and a few other non cats too. Be Well!!

micromedic:tigerose and akimbotoo,It seems your well wishes and fussing at him worked! The Assh@le just showed up, panting and not wanting to come in! Thank YOU!! : ) he does look the worse for wear, but he's home...

Yippee, yippee, yay, yay!

/to quote a waitress (referring to the cook) responding to my burnt breakfast from some years ago "I'll kill him later, I need him right now"

Pierogi sleeping on top of the ferret cage to protect them from Fred the ghost. Fred is a ghost that has followed me around the country for over 20 years now. Last week when I put the cage in my room to clean out the game room, I looked down and saw Au Jus tearing across the floor with Sake' in hot pursuit. I grabbed her real quick, and took her back to the cage. The door to the cage was wide open and the rest of the ferrets were standing there looking out, but not moving. Any time the cage door opens, they are crawling all over each other to get out. The kids were upstairs cleaning, and they never came downstairs, because I would have heard them, and the cats and ferrets and dog can't get the doors open, so I knew Fred had finally found us again and was making his presence known. He's not scary or evil, he just does things like this to mess with the family. Mom was at the hospital with the wife, so he was all that was left. The kids think it's funny, and I've heard them lecturing him when something in there room has been moved. I've only ever seen him once, and that was the first time he ever made his presence known. Now the cats do what they can to sleep on top of the cage to make sure nothing happens to the ferrets. As if I didn't have enough insanity in my life, now Fred might start playing with the ferrets. He does it again, I'll have to tell him the babies are off limits.

Bathia_Mapes:How long would you survive after putting one of these on your cat? (large image)

Mine might tolerate it...but I'd have to give them a pretty damn good reason why they should.Even if bribed encouraged with LOTS of 'nip.

Pills, shots, ear ointment, eye drops, trips to the Sainted Vet...they'll put up with that sort of thing because they seem to know that it's for their benefit but they'd have a difficult time understanding (and accepting!) my desire to see them in funny hats merely for shiatzengiggles...

Feline censors...now in Modern Mode. Still available, "Newsprint censor", "Magazine Moderator" and of course "Internet Interlocutor" Coming soon.."Texting Tabbulator", and the ever popular, "Driving Dervish" guaranteed to keep your mind on the road and not on your phone...it's deevilishly effective!

Haruko_Haruhara:valnt9: I am more than delighted to rescind my notice thatI had a deadline to contact me.I had one wonderful Caturdayer offer to help last night, andanother very generous member of our family didn't wait to even hear what I needed, theydeposited funds into my PalPay account and my internet will stay up!!!I am beyond flabergasted, I did not request help, I just wanted to let you knowI had a deadline coming.The one who jumped in will be paid back, so the money can be used again to helpanother family member down the road.Gawd, I love this group of people.Now, all who said they wanted BBBB's address will be getting an e-mail tonight.(after I get my tear soaked chin off the floor)Long Live Caturday!!!

Val, we care about you. :) Wish I could have donated, but my thoughts are with you.

Caturday Theme Song

/hug

I love Queen but I can't listen to it in the house because Jack likes to sing along and he sings so loud that my neighbor came over once to see if anything was wrong.

syzygy whizz:Silly natterings...Raven has a new friend at work. New resident, LOVES cats and so of course is utterly besotted with Raven. They'll entertain each other with a piece of string for up to an hour at a time, then she'll sit down and watch TV with him.Last week she 'encouraged' him to hit the sack at a REASONABLE hour (bit of an issue here) by simply sauntering down the hall and going into his bedroom.When I came upstairs a few hours later, she was wide awake, snuggled up to him. She's very good at the Sleep RayTM.

*****Had company yesterday when D'Artagnan made his appearance. He seemed very pleased with this. He greeted her, got something to eat, came back and gave her several compliments (head-bump, tail-stroke, and purring). He then stretched his long shiny, slinky self upon the floor and you could almost hear "You may now commence with adoration."He knew when he was either the center of attention (looking at him) or when he was the subject of conversation. Even though we weren't looking directly at him or mentioning him by name he would preen and pose, 'showing off'.

I hope I don't come off condescending to them when telling them what fine, handsome, well-behaved and clever cats they are. I KNOW they understand a lot more than one might think; a lot of their behavior indicates this.You know how sometimes being complimented for something can come off as disrespectful..."Aren't you cute/special/clever for knowing that...and you only a _________!"

I agree with you! I KNOW my kitties understand what I am saying. They just don't always do what I ask. Charlie likes to answer my requests to vacate the kitchen counter with lots of whining and back-talk, but he will eventually jump down.